Welcome back!
As we begin a new academic year, many of us come prepared with goals and plans. Things we are going to do, habits we are going to build, intentions we are going to maintain in order to be more focused, more productive, less stressed. We are doing what we can to prepare ourselves for all that we know comes at us in higher ed life.
Most of us aren’t creating vision boards for The Unknown.
And yet as surely as we know what’s coming this year — the exams, the events, the emails — we just as surely know that we will be facing a whole lot of unknowns. The good and the bad; the tragic and the transformative. They will happen. But what can we do to prepare for the unknown from where we are today?
The biblical Letter to the Hebrews says: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1-2).
Perhaps you’ve heard this Bible verse over the last year: it’s the theme verse for Valpo’s Lutheran Centennial Celebration, and many of us heard it read in worship last week as a part of the regular rotation of readings.
The verse comes from a section of the Letter to the Hebrews that focuses on encouraging folks to persevere through the trials and temptations that are coming their way.
The “great cloud of witnesses” is made up of people the author has just named, the great heroes of the faith: Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Moses, and on and on. They surround us with their stories, with the examples of their faith and their perseverance.
When The Unknown happens — when we need to work through a surprise or struggle through a difficult time — stories give us something that nothing else can. Facts and solutions will only get us so far when we’re facing something new, and especially when we are dealing with our own emotions and self-doubt.
What we need is hope. What we need is to remember that it can be done. Even by someone who feels weak or unequipped for the challenge ahead. We need encouragement and wisdom for the journey.
And so we tell and re-tell the ancient stories: Abraham followed wherever God called. Moses led the people out of slavery. Martyrs stayed faithful to God until the end.
And above all, we tell the story of God, who came through in the lives of each of these people. Who parted the Red Sea and collapsed the walls of Jericho and entered human life in Jesus the Christ.
This year, we are inviting Valpo faculty and staff to share their own stories of perseverance. The theme of our Monday Morning Prayer speaker series is “I Didn’t See that Coming…” and we’re hoping to hear our own community’s examples of finding a way through the unknown and the unexpected.
We hope you will join us to hear these stories and to remember: we can persevere and live beautiful lives even through the things we can’t control.
“A Prayer of Unknowing” by Thomas Merton
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.
– Pastor Kate
Rev. Katherine Museus and Rev. James A. Wetzstein serve as university pastors at the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University and take turns writing weekly devotions.
